The village was empty.
The shack-like houses surrounding the small plaza were completely silent and still as death. For some reason, not even the cries of bugs or birds could be heard.
“No one’s here.”
“What’s going on?”
Rikiya peeked into the windows of a nearby house, while Ren anxiously drew Dai and Mei into her arms.
Under the captain’s direction, Tougo and the others split up to investigate the dozen or so houses.
In the end, not a single soul was found. To top it off, strangely enough, all the houses seemed like their residents had suddenly left in the middle of a meal or cooking.
“Judging from how the food’s rotting… I’m guessing it’s been around three or four days.”
“What in the world happened?”
The chief engineer responded to the captain’s analysis with a question.
“Do you think the Undead could’ve…”
Kojirou immediately covered his mouth before he could finish that sentence.
Everyone stood still and pale as the scenes of the prior tragedy at the Ark resurfaced in their minds.
“But it doesn’t look like they were attacked… They probably ran before anything happened.”
Kenzaki looked around at their surroundings, noticing that they were devoid of any traces of destruction.
“But where…?”
Kenzaki responded to Takuho’s question by pointing his finger.
Behind one the houses was a small road leading to the forest, covered with the footsteps of multiple people.
Sure enough, they found the villagers hiding in a cave not too far off.
Ranging from babies to the elderly, there were about thirty of them huddled together in the dim light.
Although they were still wearing the same clothes they had when they ran, it seemed like they were at least capable of securing a decent supply of food and water, and it didn’t look like they were suffering any health problems, either.
“Three days ago, three of our children that were playing by the beach got taken by those monsters…”
The elderly village chief, acquainted with the captain and chief engineer, explained the situation.
Since a few days prior, there had been sightings of herds of monsters flying through the sky and swimming through the ocean. The incident happened not too long after they told each other not to walk anywhere on their own.
A pair of parents were looking for their children upon noticing they weren’t around, when suddenly a monster swooped down from the sky, snatched the children, and then disappeared in an instant.
“Just what was that?”
“The Undead.”
Kojirou responded to the village chief, and the captain and chief engineer followed up.
“The Ark was attacked as well.”
“More than a dozen of us were murdered…”
Cries of grief could be heard as the villagers exchanged pale looks with each other.
“So… you’re saying that they’ve already been killed?”
“That can’t be true!”
There was no doubt that they were those children’s parents. Tougo averted his eyes.
Everyone was at a loss for words to reply with. They all well remembered the brutality of the Undead.
“No… Not necessarily.”
Kenzaki let out a mumble.
Kenzaki could be seen climbing towards the crater all on his own.
Tougo, Takuho, Rikiya, and Kojirou followed him from a distance away.
Ren had tried to stop Tougo and the others from following, but she didn’t have the option of leaving Dai and Mei behind, so she had no choice but to listen to Takuho and stay behind in the cave. It was likely that the captain and chief engineer were currently questioning her about their whereabouts.
Sorry, Ren.
Tougo looked up at Kenzaki, who was silently climbing the slope.
“Even back then, that Undead didn’t kill Dai and Mei immediately after capturing them. It may have been trying to bring them to this island.”
Kenzaki’s words made Tougo and the others recall the incident at the Ark.
He was right.
That was why Blade was able to fly up in his Jack Form and rescue Dai and Mei from the Undead that was still in the air.
“So maybe the Undead have a nest…!”
Kojirou shouted out, and Kenzaki looked up towards the trail of smoke rising from the crater.
“Yeah, and it’s probably right over there.”
“Did you remember something?”
Kenzaki shook his head in response to Tougo’s question.
“No… I was just thinking that, considering that some of the Undead are airborne, it’s unlikely that they’d bother making their nest on low ground.”
“There wasn’t any mention of anything like that in my story, either… Actually, is it even mine in the first place?”
Kojirou mumbled to himself.
“Point is, if we can crush that place, then we’d wipe them out for good, yeah?”
Takuho glared at the crater, and Rikiya roared out in agreement.
“Let’s do this, then!”
Tougo clenched his fists.
He was reminded of how everyone had worked together to extinguish the fire on the deck.
“Don’t be ridiculous!”
“That’s not happening!”
The captain and chief engineer denied them in a panic.
“This island is too dangerous. I take back what I said about getting off the ship. If anything, having the villagers board the Ark would be the better option.”
“He’s right. And besides, there’s no proof that those kidnapped kids are still alive…”
He lowered his voice out of consideration for the villagers.
“We won’t know for sure until we see for ourselves!”
Kenzaki then spoke over Takuho’s complaint.
“Give me at least three hours.”
He offered to go to the crater by himself to look for the children.
Seeing as the villagers had managed to hide in the cave over the past three days, he assured them that it was safe to wait there.
Tougo suddenly grabbed onto Kenzaki’s arm.
“You still haven’t remembered anything, right? You don’t even know why you have to fight those things, so why…”
Even so, I have to go. I have to fight. Kenzaki was silent, but his face said everything.
Without saying a word, Kenzaki headed off towards the Undead’s nest.
The smell of sulfur grew stronger, and the temperature rose drastically.
Rumble-like sounds could be heard, and they were able to feel the ground slightly shake.
“It’s not gonna erupt or anything, right..?.”
Rikiya looked fearfully at his feet.
Suddenly, a plume of smoke scattered by the sea breeze came crawling down the mountain surface.
“Get down!”
Tougo and the others quickly laid flat and covered their eyes and mouth in response to Takuho’s voice.
But they still ended up inhaling some of the smoke, causing them to cough, choke, and tear up. If they had inhaled even more, their lungs likely would have burned to a crisp.
When the smoke travelled away and their field of vision returned, Kenzaki was standing in front of them.
“Why are you guys here…?”
Tougo and the rest jumped to their feet.
“We’ll rescue the children and fight those monsters together with you. Even if you tell us to go back, we’re staying. We’re not letting you fight alone!”
Takuho declared confidently, and Tougo and Rikiya nodded in agreement.
Kojirou followed up.
“I… want to stick with you to the very end, Kenzaki. So that I can write a new story. Even if you tell me not to write, or that I’d just be a nuisance, I’m not going anywhere. I’m going to write!”
“…Suit yourself.”
Kenzaki shrugged his shoulders.
Upon seeing that gesture of incredulousness rather than anger, Tougo and the others looked at each other and laughed.
At that moment, the air pressure rapidly changed.
Tougo and the others covered their ears in reaction to the piercing pain and readied themselves for the coming attack.
The very next moment, a herd of Undead appeared.
The flying Undead were clearly rising out from around the crater. Kenzaki’s theory was right on the mark.
Suddenly, the Undead blew fire from their mouths.
“Waah!”
The stretching flames appeared to be licking the rocky surface Tougo and the others had just barely managed to roll away from, which was now completely burnt with hot air visibly rising from it.
“Leave them to me! You guys go look for the kids!”
Seeing Kenzaki put on his belt, Tougo and the others made a dash. They ran along the ridge in the opposite direction.
“Henshin!”
Upon turning around to his sharp voice, Kenzaki could already be seen fighting the enemies, transformed as Blade.
“Hurry, Tougo!”
Urged on by Takuho, Tougo picked up his pace.
They single-mindedly climbed along the ridge towards the crater.
“Wait… Hold on… I need to take a quick break…”
Tougo and the others continued to run, paying no attention to Kojirou’s whining.
Just as their breaths were about to grow ragged, they came across a large ledge jutting out in front of them.
“Look! It’s the nest!”
Takuho shouted, prompting Tougo and the rest to plop down and crawl behind a nearby rock.
The unsettling feet belonging to the insect-looking Undead could be seen sticking out from above the ledge. It appeared that there were at least three of them.
Furthermore, they were able to hear the soft sobbing voices of children.
“They’re here!”
Tougo and Takuho quickly covered up Rikiya’s mouth to stifle his inadvertent cry.
The feet drew back towards the ledge, and in their place appeared the upside-down faces of the three Undead. Their cloudy eyes rolled around as they scanned their surroundings.
Tougo and the rest held their breath and remained hidden behind the rock while silently signaling each other with their hands.
They then stretched their feet out all at once, kicking a soccer ball-sized chunk of rock with all their strength.
The rock made a huge ruckus as it rolled away, catching the attention of the three Undead immediately and making them fly towards its direction. The rock continued to roll downwards.
“Morons!”
Rikiya extended his middle finger, while Takuho looked up at the ledge.
“Let’s go!”
Tougo and the others climbed up the rock wall and made their way into the Undead nest.
They then immediately came to a still, their breaths taken away.
There was an Undead that was twice as large as a typical Undead. It was sleeping, cradling itself with its long arms and legs. Extending out from it were pipe-like tentacles that were subconsciously keeping hold of the three crying children.
They looked to be around two or three years old, younger than even Dai and Mei.
“What is this thing doing?”
Rikiya lowered his voice, and Tougo and the rest responded in whispers as well.
“Is it maybe sucking out their energy?”
“No… I think it’s investigating them, as human subjects.”
Kojirou looked carefully at the Undead and verbalized his observation.
“It might be that since children are in a more primitive state than adults humans, it has an easier time of investigating them. And after figuring out efficient ways of killing humans, it’ll give birth to Undead that are equipped with that knowledge…”
“Give birth?”
“So you mean this thing is..”
“The queen…? The Mother Undead!”
Around them were five or six rocks as big as the ostrich eggs depicted in Tougo’s picture book. Upon realizing that they might be Undead eggs, Tougo felt his skin crawl.
“Awesome. Let’s do this, then!”
Rikiya pulled out one of the eggs from the ground and threw it towards the crater before the others even had any chance to stop him.
The rolling chunk of rock they suspected to be an egg then soon disappeared into the crater.
“All right!”
Takuho, and Tougo as well, proceeded to pick up the eggs and throw them into the crater, one after the other.
“Don’t! This isn’t a good idea!”
Kojirou stopped Tougo and the others.
The Mother Undead stirred in its sleep and let out a sound as if it was sleep talking.
“We need to hurry up and rescue the children first…”
Takuho nodded to Kojirou words, took out his trusted knife, and tore into the bundles of tentacles.
Bluish body fluid spurted out, and the Mother Undead awakened with a terrible cry.
“Hurry!”
Takuho shouted and once again swung his knife.
As he tore apart the tentacles, the children began crying.
“Stop crying!”
“You’re gonna be out of here any minute now!”
They handed the children down one by one to Kojirou, who had already got off the ledge.
“Here’s a bonus!”
Takuho took a huge swing with his knife and plunged it deep into the chest of the rising Mother Undead.
Tougo and the others could hear the anguished screams of the Mother Undead behind them as they jumped off the ledge.
“We did it!”
“The operation was a huge success!”
But that thought lasted only a moment.
As Tougo and the rest descended the slope, they soon heard the sounds of angry roars approaching them. The Mother Undead was descending as well, with its blue body fluid still spurting out.
“Waah!”
As Tougo and the others rolled away, just barely dodging the Mother Undead’s sharp claws, shattered pieces of the gouged rock surface came raining down towards them.
“Run!”
“It’s attacking again!”
Without even any time to regain their bearings, the Mother Undead flipped midair and quickly swooped down.
“It’s no good!”
“We can’t get away!”
The moment they clenched their eyes, preparing for the worst, Blade soared in, in his Jack Form, and attacked the Mother Undead from the side.
“Kenzaki!”
“Blade!”
As Tougo and the others looked up, the Mother Undead could be seen turning around to counterattack even while it was still being launched away.
Their intense battle continued to proceed midair.
“Run! Hurry up and run!”
Blade’s shout immediately prompted Tougo and the others to run with the children in their arms.
Midway they met with Ren, who had been waiting at the cave, and they all made their way down to the pier all at once.
The captain and chief engineer had decided to bring all the villagers with them. They were planning on making round trips with multiple boats to get them all on board the Ark.
“Let’s go! You guys get on the boat first!”
“But Kenzaki’s not here yet! We have to wait for him!”
Tougo shouted to the captain.
“We wouldn’t have saved those children if it weren’t for him!”
“Just get on!”
The chief engineer yelled and shoved Tougo and the rest onto the already jam-packed boat.
At that moment, someone let out a shriek.
Tougo and the rest were watching with stunned looks on their faces as well.
The Ark that had been anchored about two hundred meters off-shore had begun moving.
Kamen Rider Novel Translations 